Seeing the Books for the Trees. A Literary View from Vermont.

A phone call from a friend DESPERATE for books worthy to recommend to her book club (which was meeting in 20 minutes at her home), persuaded us to tackle the topic of great book club picks.

So, first off, what makes for a good choice? Conflict and controversy? A subject that’s sure to provoke disagreement? A topic that relates to people’s lives? Coming of age stories? A short book that everyone can finish? A long novel that compels you to just keep reading? A book you would not have read unless your book club made you do it? We’d answer yes to all of the above.

For purposes of our lists, we define great book club books as books that lend themselves to interesting discussions. Sometimes these books may be long, some short, some are genres that we normally do not pick up on our own but do so because someone we respect suggested it, some are by women authors, some by men, some by authors who are barely out of their teens.

To make it a bit easier to pick, we divided our selections into three genre – fiction, non-fiction and young adult (with a few picks for kids). Note — you do not have to be in a Book Club to enjoy these picks. However, we hope these new pages help Book Clubs find great books to discuss.

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The Book Jam is…

The view from a small town in Vermont onto the wide world of books where we put the right book in the right hands at the right time.

Through literature and our unique live events — 1) Pages in the Pub, a program bringing disparate communities together around books and 2) BOOK BUZZ, our literacy program for K-12 schools — the Book Jam creates communities. We provide virtual and physical spaces where people can safely discuss difficult issues. Using books, our programs help educate people about important events in their lives and in the lives of others. We build empathy, an essential aspect of healthy communities through discussions about great literature. We increase literacy. And, we draw attention to the wonderful roles of libraries and independent bookstores throughout the world.

WHO WE ARE…

The Book Jam Lisas are two women passionate about reading and sharing our literary discoveries. While we live in the woods, we can spot a great book, especially with the steady stream of excellent suggestions from the indie booksellers up here in Vermont.

WHAT THIS BLOG DOES FOR YOU…

If you’ve got reader’s block – also known as being in a “book jam” – this blog will help. Through posts organized around specific themes and our live events, we open the world of books to you by highlighting books you didn’t even know you needed. If you have issues you need help exploring, this blog will help. If you need to know there are others in the world who feel as you do, this blog will help. We honestly rest easier knowing that you have the right book on your bedside table each night providing whatever it is you need.

Everything we recommend has been personally read and reviewed by one of us – all the way up here in the Green Mountain State.